The Poison Pokemon Tournament
by Brock's Geodude
Summary: Ash & co meet a Poison-type trainer who is entering a Poison Pokemon tournament, and Ash & Brock decide to enter. A couple more unexpected entrants will be coming in later parts. Read what I have so far and review!
1. Monica

The Poison Pokemon Tournament  
  
Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with Pokemon, no financial gain here, whatever.  
  
A/N: May is 14 in this fic, because I think she should be the same age as Ash. Deal with it. :-p  
  
--part 1--  
  
"Well," said eight-year-old Max White, looking at his prize PokeNav, "it shouldn't be too much longer before we hit Fallarbor Town."  
  
"Yep, Beautifly and I can't wait to enter the contest there!" exclaimed his sister, 14-year-old May.  
  
The Pikachu perched on the shoulder of their friend, 14-year-old Ash Ketchum, suddenly chirped. "What is it, Pikachu?" asked Ash. "Did you hear something?" Pikachu chirped again, nodded, and pointed into the forest to the group's right.  
  
The last member of the group, 19-year-old Brock Slate, strained his ears to listen. "Hey, it sounds like there's a Pokemon battle going on in the forest there."  
  
Ash was now curious. "Let's go check it out." He plunged off the trail and into the forest, followed by the others.  
  
A very short walk later, after shouldering their way past trees and pushing branches out of the way, they came to a small clearing, where a girl about Brock's age looked to be finishing up a battle with a wild Ekans. A roundish, green Pokemon that Ash had never seen before stood in front of her, apparently having just finished an attack. Ash and May immediately scanned the Pokemon with their Pokedexes. "Gulpin. The Stomach Pokemon," recited the female computerized voice of Ash's Pokedex. "Virtually all of Gulpin's body is its stomach. As a result, it can swallow something its own size. This Pokemon's stomach contains a special fluid that digests anything."  
  
"Wow, I wonder how much it eats," May remarked after they put the devices away.  
  
The Gulpin's trainer heard her, but wasn't ready to reply just yet. She had weakened that wild Ekans enough that she now withdrew a Pokeball from her pocket and tossed it at the Snake Pokemon. The ball released its familiar red transparent beam, enveloping the Ekans and taking it inside. The ball landed, and shook once, twice, three times.then was still. The girl nearly tripped over her Gulpin in her excitement to run to the Pokeball. She held it up triumphantly and turned to the newcomers. "All right! I caught an Ekans!" she exclaimed while pumping her other fist in the air. "Great job, Gulpin!" she congratulated her Pokemon, then recalled it into its ball.  
  
Finally able to get his first good look at her, Brock promptly went nuts. She had chin-length light blond hair, and aqua-blue eyes that seemed lively and mischievous. Her skin had a slight tan that didn't quite hide the few scattered freckles on her face. The colors of her skin and face starkly contrasted with her clothes. She wore a loose-fitting black t-shirt with the name and logo of "The Poison Stingers," which were apparently a rock band Brock had never heard of. The shirt was tucked into tight black jeans, and her feet were clad in new-looking purple-and-black sneakers.  
  
"Well hello there!" Brock cried, running up to her and grabbing her hands, nearly causing her to drop her newly acquired Ekans' Pokeball. One could almost see the hearts in Brock's eyes as he stared into hers. "I hope you know CPR, because you take my breath away!"  
  
Annoyed, Max reached up, grabbed Brock's ear, and began dragging him away. "C'mon," said the young navigator. "Let's go look for your breath over here."  
  
The girl looked at Ash and May with an amused twinkle in her eye. "Is he always like that?"  
  
They both nodded. "Pretty much," said Ash. "Anyway, nice job capturing that Ekans. And it looks like your Gulpin is well-trained too."  
  
"Thanks! It feels great when someone compliments my Pokemon," the girl responded, extending her hand. "I'm Monica Freeman."  
  
"I'm Ash Ketchum, and this is my Pikachu," Ash responded, nodding towards the Electric-type on his shoulder, then accepting the handshake. Brock had recovered by then, so he introduced himself too, as did May and Max.  
  
"So, are all of you travelling trainers?" Monica asked.  
  
"I'm not," Max said, looking downcast. "I'm too young to have a Pokemon yet."  
  
"C'mon Max, don't start that again," complained May, "you know perfectly well that Mom and Dad said you can have your trainer's license as soon as you turn 10. Too bad that's almost two years from now." She said that last sentence with a hint of teasing in her voice.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Max, you'll be 10 before you know it," added Monica. The unexpected encouragement from the older girl made Max feel a little better. She then paused, as if trying to recall something. "Hey!" she suddenly exclaimed. "Did you guys say your last name was White and you were from Petalburg City?"  
  
"Yes, why do you ask?" May wondered.  
  
"Are you any relation to Norman White, the Petalburg Gym Leader?"  
  
"Yeah, he's our father."  
  
"Cool! I battled him last month, his Vigoroth was amazing!" Monica pulled a thin, green badge case from her backpack and proudly showed the group her five badges. "I train mostly Poison-type Pokemon," she went on, "except for my Wingull and my starter Torchic, who's now a Combusken. In my spare time, I like to read books and gather information about Pokemon breeding, it's kind of a hobby of mine. It's also something to fall back on if things don't work out for me as a trainer."  
  
"You breed-I mean, you're interested in breeding? Really?" Brock was excited. "Wow, my dream girl has finally appeared!" He was getting that far- off look in his eyes again, staring at Monica. "My 2 main interests, girls and Pokemon breeding-united in a beautiful feast for the eyes!"  
  
Monica gave a little laugh. "You're a breeder?"  
  
The question seemed to snap Brock out of his trance, now that he was called on to talk about his other main interest. "Yes, I am travelling with my friends here in the hopes of learning everything I can about Pokemon, with the goal of becoming the world's best Pokemon breeder. I have gained lots of valuable experience so far," he said in a scholarly tone.  
  
Ash and May went on to explain their goals, of becoming a Pokemon Master and becoming a successful Contest coordinator, respectively, as the group made their way back to the main trail.  
  
After some more pleasant conversation, Monica revealed that she planned to enter the upcoming Poison Pokemon Tournament in Fallarbor Town. Every five years, she explained, Fallarbor Town held a 17-week series of Pokemon Tournaments, one for each Pokemon type. Ash and his friends had just happened to arrive the day before the Poison Pokemon Tournament was due to start. "Are you guys interested in entering?" she asked. "I heard there are still a few slots free."  
  
"Well." said May slowly, "I don't have any Poison-type Pokemon, and I prefer training for contests anyway."  
  
"I was intending on using only my new captures from here in Hoenn, but I can't pass this up," said Ash, considering. "Ok, I'm in. I have a couple of Poison Pokemon with Professor Oak back home in Pallet Town. When we get to the Pokemon Center I'll make the switch."  
  
"I'll enter of course! Anything for you, my love!" Brock said enthusiastically.  
  
Dragging him a distance away again, Max whispered, "Brock, you don't have any Poison-type Pokemon, remember?"  
  
"Oh.that's right," Brock realized, looking quite dejected. "Hey, wait a minute!" he suddenly realized. "Crobat! Jasper can lend it back to me for a while!" Suddenly straightening up, he bolted forward towards Fallarbor Town and the Pokemon Center. He had a mission, and that was to enter that Poison Pokemon Tournament and impress Monica.  
  
"Brock, wait up! What are you talking about?" asked Max, jogging after him. Laughing at Brock's antics, Monica and the rest of the group ran to keep up.  
  
-A/N - Thanks to Blackjack Gabbiani for suggesting the name Jasper as a dub name for Brock's oldest brother. 


	2. Surprise Entrants

-part 2-  
  
Back in Pallet Town, Tracey Sketchit and Delia Ketchum sat down on the couch in Professor Oak's living room. A bowl of popcorn, a large bottle of pop, and three glasses rested on the coffee table in front of them. Using the remote, Tracey flipped on the TV just in time to see a couple of Pokemon League broadcasters he recognized go on the air. "It's starting, Professor!" he called.  
  
"Be right there!" Professor Oak called back, quickly saving the research document he had been working on on his computer, and rushing to the living room.  
  
One of the broadcasters, a bearded man with glasses, began to speak. "Hello, everyone, and welcome to the 10th Annual Poison Pokemon Tournament here in Fallarbor Town! I'm George Green, I'll be your move-by-move announcer today, and to my left is color commentator, Chuck McDonald."  
  
"Hello everyone," said Chuck, "we've got quite an exciting tournament in store for you today, with some very skilled Pokemon trainers from all across the Hoenn, Johto, and Kanto regions, and even one who hails from all the way down in the Orange Islands."  
  
As the broadcasters continued with their pre-show report, Ash, Brock, and Monica waited in the large series of locker rooms under the bleachers with the other trainers who would be taking part. May and Max waited anxiously in the stands for the tournament to start. Ash, Brock, and Monica were all scanning the crowd, trying to pick up any clues they could as to the kind of competition they would be facing. Suddenly, three figures that were very familiar to Ash and Brock walked up out of nowhere and stood right in front of them.  
  
"It's Team Rocket!" Ash exclaimed in surprise, recognizing them as the very same Jessie, James, and Meowth that had been following him for years, trying repeatedly to steal his Pikachu and whatever other Pokemon they could, but failing every single time. "What are you three doing here?" he asked in an accusing tone.  
  
Jessie and James calmly held up their hands in defense. "Don't get your shorts in a knot, twerp, we're not interested in Pikachu this time," said Jessie. "We just want to compete in the tournament legitimately and win that trophy!" With those last few words, she had started to stare off into space, as if she was still gazing at the trophy they all had seen beforehand. "I've never legitimately won anything in my life, so this time I'm going to try and I'm going to win!"  
  
"Not just you, Jessie," James reminded her, laying a hand on her shoulder gently. "WE will try. We are entering separately so as to have a better chance that one of us will win, remember? And whether I win or you do, the trophy belongs to all three of us." The trophy that was to be the prize for the winner of the tournament was certainly worth admiration. The solid gold- painted cup had the silhouettes of a Koffing, a Tentacool, a Nidoking, a Crobat, and a Seviper engraved on the outside. The cup's three silver tiers listed basic information about every single Poison-type Pokemon known to exist: their habitats, basic tips on when to evolve them, as well as a list of every attack each of them could ever learn.  
  
"Did ya hear dat, twoips?" asked Meowth. "Dis time we're strictly on de up- and-up. Youz know about how Jessie grew up in a poor family. She desoives a chance to win somethin' dat she oined instead o' stole!"  
  
"Wow, it sounds like you guys are really serious about this," said Brock.  
  
"Yeah, but I have just one question," Ash added. "James, how can you enter a Poison type tournament when you only have Cacnea, a Grass-type?"  
  
"That is my secret, for now," James replied mysteriously. "You'll find out once the tournament starts. But before you ask, no, like we said, this is strictly legit. Even the tournament officials allowed us to enter, but they did say that the tournament was under heavy security so we shouldn't try anything funny."  
  
"Not dat we was goin' to anyway," added Meowth.  
  
Just then, the stadium announcer's booming voice welcomed everyone to the tournament and announced that it was about to start. "Will our first competitors, James Gardener from Team Rocket and Melody Singer from Shamouti Island, please take the field?"  
  
"Well, that's my cue, I've gotta go," said James, and the three Team Rocket members left, with Jessie and Meowth escorting James to the door.  
  
"What do you make of that, Brock?" asked Ash, not sure if he really believed what he had just saw.  
  
"Well they seemed sincere to me." said Brock, pondering.  
  
"Have you known them long?" Monica asked.  
  
"Yeah.but we're not exactly friends. You might have gathered that they're always trying to steal Pokemon," Ash explained. "Wait, did that announcer just say Melody from Shamouti Island?"  
  
"Hey, that's right! We can't miss this!" Brock exclaimed.  
  
"Right!" Ash agreed. The three trainers ran to the other end of the locker room, where a big-screen TV was set up that let the waiting trainers watch the current battles. Brock had never met Melody, but Ash and Misty had told him so much about their adventure with her that Brock felt like he had been there himself. "Since when is Melody a trainer, anyway?" Ash suddenly asked nobody in particular. "She never mentioned having any Pokemon when we first met her." Ash quickly filled Monica in on their adventure in the Orange Islands with Melody, the legend referring to Ash himself, Lugia, and the trio of legendary elemental birds.  
  
"Wow, you guys have had some awesome adventures," said Monica, truly amazed. "I wish I could meet some legendary Pokemon."  
  
Just then, the battle on the TV began. Ash noticed that Jessie and Meowth were not far away, just as intent on the screen as he was. Out of the corner of his eye, Ash could also see Brock and Monica sitting next to him. She seemed to be enjoying Brock's presence just as much as he enjoyed hers, and she didn't object when Brock casually placed his arm up on top of the couch behind her, then gradually brought it down so it was around her shoulders.  
  
***  
  
Since some Poison Pokemon were also Water-types, the battlefield for the Poison Pokemon Tournament had been carefully constructed. It was about the size of most of the fields used for the Indigo League Tournament or the Silver Conference, so the Pokemon had plenty of room to move around. Running down the middle of the field was a deep, oblong pool with a rocky bottom. Ample room separated each end of the pool from the walls, so a Pokemon could run from one long side of the pool to the other if it needed to. On the east side of the pool, one of the long sides, the field consisted of rocks and boulders of various sizes. On the pool's west side was a grassy area that stretched over both short ends of the pool. The opposing trainers stared each other down from the opposite short ends of the pool.  
  
The tournament was divided into three cups. Trainers could enter one, two, or three Poison Pokemon in the tournament, so that was how the cups were arranged. In the #1 Cup, trainers would use just one Pokemon each, two in the #2 Cup, and three in the #3 Cup. All the cups would proceed via basic elimination rules. The first-place winner of each cup would receive a trophy just like the one all the trainers had seen in a glass case in the lobby before heading to the locker rooms.  
  
Watching Melody, on the screen, take her position at one end of the field, and James at the other, Ash was reminded of when he first met her, because her outfit looked quite similar to what she had been wearing that day. He was even surprised that he remembered what she had been wearing at all, but after he and Misty had recounted the entire adventure to Brock during their travels, the whole thing seemed permanently etched in his mind, including anything about Melody he could remember. Melody was wearing a white beret and dark sunglasses, a pink tank top over a black tank top, and blue jeans. She still wore her hair down in the same way Ash remembered.  
  
Out on the field, now that both opponents were ready, the referee signalled the match to begin. 


End file.
